About Us

About Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo

Oscar de la Hoya Ánimo Charter High School is a charter high school located in Los Angeles, California. It serves students in the community of Boyle Heights. Our charter was approved by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the school currently has students enrolled in grades 9 through 12.

History

ODLHA opened its doors in August 2003 with a founding class of 140 freshman students. Located in a temporary facility at the Salesian Boys and Girls Club in Boyle Heights, ODLHA’s goal was to provide the families of the Boyle Heights/East L.A. area with an alternative to the large comprehensive urban high schools in the area (Roosevelt Senior High and Garfield Senior High).

ODLHA was founded when Oscar De La Hoya, the seven time world boxing champion, businessman and philanthropist, joined Steve Barr and Green Dot Public Schools, a non-profit charter school developer dedicated to transforming secondary education in Los Angeles, to announce the partnership with his Oscar De La Hoya Foundation to open the Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School in Boyle Heights. The commitment included a $1 million donation over five years for school materials and facilities, as well as for expanding the existing Oscar De La Hoya Boxing Gym and Technology Center currently in the heart of Boyle Heights for the school’s permanent facility. Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School was Green Dot’s record-setting third charter High School in Los Angeles, furthering its plan to open 100 charter schools in metropolitan Los Angeles over the next 10 years. Due to the success of Green Dot’s first charter schools, Ánimo Leadership and Ánimo Inglewood, the Los Angeles Unified School district approved the charter and the opening of ODLHA in 2003.

ODHLA’s distinguishing features are embodied in the meaning of its name. Ánimo is a Spanish word which means “vigor, mind, spirit, valor, and the courage to overcome odds.” ODLHA is a school with an unwavering belief in the potential of all students. It is a place where a passion for learning prevails. It is a school founded on the belief that all students can and will go to college.

About Green Dot

Green Dot Public Schools is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help transform public education so ALL students graduate prepared for college, leadership and life.

Unique in the nation for a major non-profit charter management organization, Green Dot is proving it can achieve better student outcomes with the same student population, lower per pupil funding than the district and a unionized workforce. We are the leading charter school operator in Los Angeles and one of the top three largest in the nation.